Waters

Most of Tennessee's earliest resorts grew up around mineral springs. The effectiveness of "water cure" or hydrotherapy had been touted since the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The Empiricism of the 18th and 19th centuries revived the waning popularity of mineral waters and their curative potential amidst the craze for analyzing the minerals and gases present. Physicians of the period reveled in ascribing various health benefits to particular waters.

Books such as John Bell’s 1855 publication spread the
word across the nation of some of the early “Tennessee Springs,” their
chemical compositions, and their medicinal benefits.

Types of mineral waters were often described by the color of the precipitate
formed by the water. Other laymen maintain the denotation represents
the color taken on by a silver coin immersed in the spring water—i.e.,
red, black, or white. Claims varied, but red water was generally
said to ease urinary tract disorders while black water addressed digestive
complaints.

Note the lengthy section of “Testimonials of Physicians
and Other Patrons of Galbraith Springs” hailing the various
curative powers of the waters.

Some of the most noted and sought after “healing springs” were
located in the highlands of East Tennessee. Indians and wildlife
likely discovered these sites long before the appearance of white settlers
in Tennessee. Visitors were making recorded treks to these locations
as early as the 1790s. The following Nashville Banner articles
found in the Samuel Anderson Weakley Papers reveal the presence
of such waters in the Nashville vicinity.

Thus, these resorts tended to develop at a more distant, safe location
from major cities, as illustrated by Charles B. Thorne’s map in
his 1970 Tennessee Historical Quarterly article “The
Watering Spas of Middle Tennessee.” He profiled thirty-one
mineral spring resorts in Middle Tennessee and commented that there
were surely more that had been overlooked.

Spring Houses

Examples of the variety of springs houses appearing at watering
places across the state. They run the gamut from the rustic
to the ornate.